Putain, putain….

To all of you worrying about us, please don’t. There is absolutely no need to and we find it quite embarrassing. We are only standing at the sidelines while the pandemic is ravaging the world in general and some of our friends in particular back in the homeland. We feel so helpless about all their misery.

We are namely still the “lucky” ones, isolated as we are in paradise with an average body temperature of 36,4 degrees when it’s 28 degrees outside and with a sky that always has a silver lining.

Guadeloupe follows the dictates of France and the gendarmerie maritime is watching our every move: 1 person at a time can leave the boat to go ashore with the dinghy in order to get toilet paper . This for the duration of maximum 1 hour per day and within a perimeter of 1 km. Carrying each time a filled out document justifying this “déplacement indispensable”.

It is forbidden to snorkel, to swim or to visit deserted beaches around the corner. Measures which we strongly applaud: if all 32 yachts that are anchored here in the bay, go to the deserted beach around the corner, the beach is no longer deserted. And if the locals have to stay put, the least we can do is follow suit. 

So we are relieved to be able to confirm that our neighbouring yachties generally stick to the rules and act very disciplined & respectful. Except for yesterday of course when a couple of dolphins came leisurely flirting which each other in between the boats on anchor, paying no attention to the splashes of captains and their crew when they suddenly forgot all about the snorkelling restrictions. We observed the human species and the frolicking dolphins from our upper deck through our binoculars.

And in the mean time, Macron is sending us the “Dixmude”, the amphibious assault ship and helicopter carrier of the French Navy which will be deployed as hospital ship in the French Antilles and French Guyana area.

Today, we have also fixed another “crise sanitaire”: the spectacular de-clogging of the master toilet. I won’t go too much into detail, but a dinghy was involved as well as a plastic tube which was to be inserted (by me !)deeply into the exhaust hole on the outside of the boat, while my Captain expertly used the pressure of an air tank -normally used for scuba diving – as an air compressor. The operation was extremely successfully executed: all the fish came swimming and had a ball. My T-shirt is now in the trash and after 3 showers, my personal “crise sanitaire” is more or less contained. 

We do confess that each evening, the nagging voice in the back of our heads is temporarily silenced by the jungle sounds rising from the woods near by and by the plopping of the wine cork as we silently gaze at the sunset. 

We still have 2 months before the hurricane season sets in. But by the midst of May, we really have to get out of here. Together with the 1000 other yachts that are in the same situation, docked all over the different islands of the Caribbean and in lockdown just like us. 

And for the time being, there is no place to go: all borders are closed and we are no longer welcome in the territorial waters of whatever country. 

An adjustment of our initial itinerary has clearly become a necessity and is being discussed each evening after the sun has gone down. We will keep you posted. In the meantime, do stay safe and hang in there!